Big Peat Christmas 2018 – 53.9% abv

A Christmas tradition here at Somerset Whisky Blog HQ (and I suspect for many others as well), is a love for the Big Peat Christmas edition. This year’s edition is out, and there’s still time to grab a bottle before the big day!

Drinks by the Dram 2018 Advent Calendar selection

It’s that time of the year where some of us vaguely start to ponder the coming festive season (others prefer to ignore it till December 24th!). When it comes to whisky, there’s a couple of things I like to now consider traditions, and the Drinks by the Dram Advent Calendar selection is one of them for sure! So here’s the info of what’s available in the 2018 range…

Douglas Laing Mark Their 70th Anniversary With A Twist

Family owned Scotch Whisky specialist, Douglas Laing, continue to mark their Platinum Anniversary with the release of a commemorative Remarkable Regional Malts bottling.

The Company was established by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948. 70 years later, Douglas Laing is regarded as one of the most innovative independent spirit businesses, owned and run by 2nd and 3rd generation family members. This latest release certainly reflects the Company’s desire for innovation and creativity.

The “Remarkable Regional Malts – With A Twist” bottling encompasses Single Malts from all of Scotland’s Whisky producing regions, representing the various brands in the range. Aged for 10 years, bottled at 48% alcohol strength and offered without colouring or chill-filtration, the resulting Whisky reflects the very best of Scotch Malt Whiskies.

Steel Bonnets: Blended Malt Whisky

Info: From The Lakes Distillery comes the first ever blend, so the press release says, of English and Scottish malt whiskies, Steel Bonnets. The blend is a combination of The Lakes Single Malt from England and some of the most respected malts from north of the Border. Awarded a gold medal in Spirits Business’ Luxury Masters Awards. 46.6% abv, non chillfiltered, non coloured. Colour: Golden with a hint of autumn rust. Nose: An interesting nose that is vibrant and flavourful. There’s some instant sweetness to the nose, possibly showing distillery character from younger (Lakes?) spirit. There is a dollop of sweetened cream with green and red fruits on the nose with smokey hints as a backdrop.Continue reading →

Deanston Decennary 50th Anniversary – 46.3% abv

Info: Deanston Decennary 50th Anniversary is a marriage of four different casks; Whisky refil from 1977, American Oak from 1982, Port Pipe from 1996 and Pedro Ximenez from 2006. 1400 bottles available exclusively at the distillery. Natural colour, un-chillfiltered. Colour: Summer gold with a hint of autumn rust. Nose: The nose here is really autumnal. There’s hints of sharp, cold, clean rain on malt. There’s a bowl full of simmered down autumn fruits with a spoon of thick cream dolloped on top. There’s a nuttyness that’s coming from the casks. You can tell there’s some well aged malt here, but it’s well integrated and keeps a nice natural balance of the malts.Continue reading →

Syndicate 58/6 12 year old

Info: Contains 18 single malts and 4 single grains, finished for a year in Oloroso sherry butts. From Douglas Laing, a blend by Richard Patterson. Colour: End of summer golden. Nose: Spirited hints of pear, malt and rainy ozone. All backed by gentle sweet berry notes. Palate: Very gentle sweet berry notes at the fore, it’s not overly oily, but it coats the tongue pleasingly. A hint of lemon. Finish: Flavourful, with hints of wood and a slight touch of tannin at the end. Not overly long. Thoughts: It’s a tasty blend at a great price. Available: Master of Malt – £30 inc free postage.

The Ultimate American Whiskey Tweet Tasting

To help celebrate the 4th July, a well-known date in America – so I’ve been told, the good eggs at Maverick Drinks and The Whisky Wire sent me a curated selection pack of their best American whiskies for a bunch of us drunkards selection of bloggers to all taste at the same time on that-there-Twitter.

So without further ado, here’s my thoughts on the aforementioned 5 drams…

The Singleton of Dufftown Malt Master’s Selection – 40% abv

Info: The Singleton of Dufftown Malt Master’s Selection is matured in a combination of refill, Sherry and Bourbon casks, with a greater proportion of refill to allow ‘the sweet yet refined distillery character to shine through’. This has no age statement and is chillfiltered. Colour: Yellow golden sun, hints of rust. Nose: Malty and sweet. There’s handfuls of malt intertwined with some caramel, a little toffee, and the peel of red apples. In the background there’s spring meadow grassiness.Continue reading →

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Speyburn 15 Year Old – 46% ABV

Info: Matured in a combination of American and Spanish oak casks for 15 years. New at the end of 2017. Colour: Light summer gold. Nose: Quite sprightly and full bodied. Lashings of buttery malt with a great back note of mushed up autumn berry fruits, vanilla custard and maybe even a dollop of cream. Palate: A nice strong oily introduction to your tongue, slightly peppery, with plenty of sweetness from the cream and the crushed berries. Just enough age to mark it as nicely middle aged with a hint of smoke from cask char. Finish: The sweetness quickly heads towards slight peppery tannin on the finish which is quite long from the cask char hints.Continue reading →